Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/649

Rh CATILINA. attack upon the magistrates had been meditated. Catiline was again rejected ; was forthwith im- peached of sedition, under the Plautian law, by L. Aemilius Paullus ; was forced to abandon the ex- pectation he had entertained of surprising the strong fortress of Praeneste, which would have formed an admirable base for his warlike operations ; and found himself every hour more and more closely confined and pressed by the net in which he was entangled through the activity of Cicero. Driven to despair by this accumulation of disappointments and dangers he resolved at once to bring matters to a crisis, and no longer to waste time by persevering in a course of policy in which he had been so re- peatedly foiled. Accordingly, while he still en- deavoured to keep up appearances by loud protesta- tions of innocence, and by offering to place himself under the controul and surveillance of M. Lepidus, of Q. Metellus, the praetor, or of M. Marcellus, in whose house he actually took up his abode, or even of Cicero himself ; on tlie night of the Gth of No- vember he met the ringleaders at the dwelling of M. Porcius Laecii, and after complaining of their backwardness and inactivity, infonned them that he had despatched Manlius to Etruria, Septimius of Camers, to Picenum, C. Julius, to Apulia, and others of less note to diflferent parts' of Italy to raise open war, and to organize a general revolt of the slave population. He added that he was desi- rous to place himself at the head of his troops, but that it was absolutely necessary in the fust place to remove Cicero, whose vigilance was most injurious to their cause. Upon this L. Vargunteius, a sena- tor, and C. Cornelius, a knight, undertook to repair at an early hour the following morning to the house of the consul, to make their way into his chamber as if for the purpose of paying their respects, and then to stab him on the spot. The whole of these proceedings were instantly reported to their intended victim; the assassins, when they presented them- selves, were refused admission, and certain intelli- gence having been now received that the rebellion had actually broken out on the 27th of October in Etruria, Cicero, on the 8th of November, went down to the senate which, for greater security, had been summoned to meet in the temple of Jupiter Stator, and there delivered his celebrated oration, " Quousque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra?" which paralysed the traitor, not so much by the vehemence of the invective, as by the intimate acquaintance which it displayed with all his most hidden contrivances. Catiline, who upon his en- trance had been avoided by all, and was sitting alone upon a bench from which every one had shrunk, rose to reply with downcast countenance, and in humble accents implored the fathers not to listen to the ma- lignant calumnies of an upstart foreigner against the noblest blood in Rome ; but sciu-cely had he commenced when his words were drowned by the shouts of *' enemy " and " parricide " which burst from the whole assembly, and he rushed forth with threats and curses on his lips. On his return home perceiving that there was now no hope of destroy- ing his hated foe, and that the strict watch kept throughout the city rendered tumult and fire-raising difficult if not impossible for the present ; he re- solved to strike some decisive blow before troops could be levied to oppose him, and accordingly leaving the chief controul of affaii-s at Rome in the bunds of Lentulus and Cethegus, with the promise at the same time to march with all speed to their CATILINA. 991 support at the head of a powerful army, set forth in the dead of night (8th — 9th November), and after remaining for a few days with his ad- herents in the neighbourhood of Arretium, where he assumed the fasces and other ensigns of lawful military command, proceeded to the camp of Man- lius, having previously addressed letters to the most distinguished consulars and others, solemnly protesting his innocence, and declaring that unable to resist the cabal formed among his enemies he had determined to retire to Marseilles that he might preserve his country from agitation and disturb- ance. On the 9th, when the flight of Catiline was known, Cicero delivered his second speech, which was addressed to the people in the forum, the senate proceeded to declare Catiline and Manlius public enemies, despatched officers of high stand- ing to Etruria, Picenum, Campania, Apulia, and the different districts from which danger was ap- prehended, directed the consuls to hold a levy with all speed, decreed that Antonius should go forth to the war, and that Cicero should remain to guard the city ; offering at the same time an amnesty to all who should quit the rebels, and free pardon and great rewards to any who should give such information as might lead to the discovery and conviction of the conspirators within the walls. It is a remarkable fact, and one which indicates most strongly the disaffection of the lower classes to the existing order of things, that not one man could be found to take advantage of this proclama- tion, and that not a single soldier deserted from the rebel standard. This circumstance threatened to prove a source of most serious embarrassment. Although the existence of the conspiracy and the names of the leading conspirators were known, not only to the magistrates, but to the public at large, yet there was no legal evidence against any indi- vidual, for Curius, while he faithfully supplied secret intelligence, could not come forward openly without blasting himself for ever, a!id at the same time depriving the government of its most power- ful auxiliary. But such steadfastness of purpose did not extend to certain foreigners belonging to a race proverbial in ancient times for the lightness of their faith. There was at Rome at this period a party of Allobroges, deputies despatched by their nation to seek relief from certain real or alleged grievances. Their suit, however, had not pros- pered, and their complaints of the cupidity of the magistrates and of the indifference of the senate were open and loud. Lentulus, conceiving that their discontent might be made available for his own purposes, opened a negotiation through the medium of P. Umbrenus, a freedman, who, in the course of mercantile transactions, had become ac- quainted with most of the Gaulish chiefs, and who now assuming a tone of warm sympathy with their wrongs, undertook to point out an easy method by which they might obtain ample re- dress. Finding that these mysterious hints were greedily caught up, he gradually disclosed the nature of the plot, and invited them to co-operate by stimulating their coiuitrymen to insurrection. The men for a long while hesitated, but prudence prevailed. After calculating and balancing the chances, they resolved to secure a certain and im- mediate recompense, rather than to speculate upon doubtful and distant advantages. Accordingly, they revealed all to Q. Fabius Sanga, the patron of their